Attending a Civil Wedding Ceremony

[jeab]

Good Morning:

My Sister In Law will be married in a few weeks. She is divorced and has been working for about one year to obtain an Annulment. Her fiancee is a widower. They have decided to have a Civil Ceremony as they are not sure when the Annulment will be granted. I am a practicing Catholic. Would it be wrong to attend their ceremony? My husband refuses to attend, stating she is still married according to the laws of the Church. Would it be wrong, would I be committing a sin by attending?

Thanks.

 

[Scoobyshme]

I think you would probably best serve them by not attending. Otherwise, you give tacit approval to something wrong. I would offer to attend when they get their marriage blessed, i.e., when the Sacrament takes place. Not before. And I would be very nice about it. But I wouldn’t back off.

 

[The_Old_Medic]

Your sister-in-law would be committing bigamy, as far as the church is concerned. She will be barred from receiving the sacraments, she will be in a state of mortal sin, and she will have willingly done this to herself.

If you attend that wedding, you are giving silent sanction to her actions.

 

[Rich_Olszewski]

Good Morning:

My Sister In Law will be married in a few weeks. She is divorced and has been working for about one year to obtain an Annulment. Her fiancee is a widower. They have decided to have a Civil Ceremony as they are not sure when the Annulment will be granted. I am a practicing Catholic. Would it be wrong to attend their ceremony? My husband refuses to attend, stating she is still married according to the laws of the Church. Would it be wrong, would I be committing a sin by attending?

Thanks.

As she is/was a sister-in-law, you could get away with refusing to attend.

But, were she your sister or a blood relative, better you attended and maintained peace in the family rather than create a hostility that will long outlive the events surrounding getting the annulment.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

As she is/was a sister-in-law, you could get away with refusing to attend.

But, were she your sister or a blood relative, better you attended and maintained peace in the family rather than create a hostility that will long outlive the events surrounding getting the annulment.

Note that she could be either an ex-sister in law having been married to OP’s brother, or current sister in law being a sibling of OP’s spouse. In the latter case there can be a major problem of creating hostility.

I have seen varying advice on this. It probably depends on the specific circumstances. For myself, I would not attend. However, I am now at an age I no longer feel threatened by hostility; more interested in my final exam.

 

[The_Old_Medic]

So, if it is blood relative, it is perfectly OK to show approval for what is a blatant sin?

You would be committing a mortal sin yourself, to go to such a wedding, one that you know is false and is a sin.

Frankly, if it were someone in my family, I would tell them directly that I will NOT attend, and exactly why I could never attend such a ceremony.

Which has meaning to you, your faith, or “family peace”? It sounds like Rich doesn’t really care about the moral principles, the only thing that matters is keeping someone happy.

Nope, there is no possible way that I would attend such a wedding, and I wouldn’t care who it was being held for. I WOULD tell them in advance why I couldn’t come though. It might actually make her think about what she is doing.

 

[puzzleannie]

Good Morning:

My Sister In Law will be married in a few weeks. She is divorced and has been working for about one year to obtain an Annulment. Her fiancee is a widower. They have decided to have a Civil Ceremony as they are not sure when the Annulment will be granted. I am a practicing Catholic. Would it be wrong to attend their ceremony? My husband refuses to attend, stating she is still married according to the laws of the Church. Would it be wrong, would I be committing a sin by attending?

Thanks.

you are not necessarily sinning but you certainly are condoning a deliberate sin, if she knows yet rejects Church teaching on marriage. That is a prudential judgement on your part and you should present a united front. If you attend it implies approval. there is an answer to this on AAA

 

[Rich_Olszewski]

you are not necessarily sinning but you certainly are condoning a deliberate sin, if she knows yet rejects Church teaching on marriage. That is a prudential judgement on your part and you should present a united front. If you attend it implies approval. there is an answer to this on AAA

As it is a prudential judgment, one would not be wrong to attend.

 

[bluerose]

She is divorced and has been working for about one year to obtain an Annulment. .

There is no guarantee that she will even receive a decree of nullity… in fact, she should never have begun dating until she had the decree in hand, much less gotten engaged. What if the tribunal rules that her first marriage was, indeed, valid?

 

[puzzleannie]

As it is a prudential judgment, one would not be wrong to attend.

I did not necessarily say it was, I refered her to a more complete discussion by the experts, and merely pointed out facts she already knows

to my mind the more serious threat here under the heading “family unity” is the division between these two spouses, OP and her husband, and that should be her first concern